Proverbs 23:35

Pro 23:35 They have stricken me, [shalt thou say, and] I was not sick; they have beaten me, [and] I felt [it] not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Ver. 35. They have stricken me.] A drunken man, we say, takes no hurt, feels no smart, is turned into a very stock. Dionysius the Heracleot felt not needles thrust into his fat belly. Pliny mentioneth certain bears, that being sound asleep, cannot be wakened with the sharpest prickles. Mathiolus {a} reports of the asses of Etruria, that, feeding upon henbane, {b} they fall into such a dead sleep, that being taken for dead, they are half hideled, {c} ere they can be aroused. Lo, such is the drunkard’s lethargy; neither is he more insensible than sensual and irrecoverable.

{a} Mathiol. in Dioscorid.

{b} The common name of the annual plant Hyoscyamus niger, a native of Europe and northern Asia, growing on waste ground, having dull yellow flowers streaked with purple, viscid stem and leaves, unpleasant smell, and narcotic and poisonous properties; also extended to the genus as a whole.

{c} [?Skinned.]

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_23:35

They have beaten me and I felt it not: when shall I awake?

I will seek it yet again.

Satans anesthetic

1. The application of anaesthetics to surgery is one of the most beneficent discoveries of the present age. One shudders at the very thought of the surgical operations of the olden days, executed without the merciful drug that makes the patient unconscious of his agony. But almost every good thing in the kingdom of God is travestied in the kingdom of Satan. Satan has therefore his own anodyne which he uses to the ruin of the bodies and souls of men. It is evident from the proverb that alcohol was known to be an anaesthetic three thousand years ago. Modern science corroborates the ancient saying. Most people know that a man in liquor often appears insensible to wounds which otherwise would cause intense pain. Medical men occasionally use alcohol as an anesthetic when chloroform is inadmissible. The practical result of this property of alcohol is that the intemperate man--and many a regular moderate drinker, too--is unconscious of the gradual deterioration of his bodily frame. The vital organs are becoming diseased and their functions deranged; but meanwhile the process is most rapidly going on in the brain. Hence all the perceptions are dulled, and the painful sensations, that otherwise would give timely warning of the growing mischief, are to some extent unfelt. One of the purposes of pain is to sound a warning note, to give a signal that something is wrong, that some part of the complex mechanism of the body is out of gear. Our duty is, therefore, not to be contented with allaying the pain, but if possible to cure the disease which causes the pain.

2. The moral anaesthesia to which alcohol gives rise is even more terrible than the physical. Acting as a subtle brain-poison, it works sad havoc with the moral perceptions. All delicacy of conscience is quickly lost, the distinctions between right and wrong become blurred, and the man once honoured and trusted becomes a liar, a thief, and an ingrate. The loving, dutiful son becomes selfish, morose, and attacks his mother with murderous violence. Now, in such cases as these (which are, alas! only too common) we cannot believe that the honest man wilfully takes to lying, the affectionate father wilfully becomes the savage brute, or the dutiful son is filled wilfully with a fierce hatred of his mother. Evidently the mind, conscience, and will become diseased. Alcohol not only dulls the sense of pain in the physical system; it is an ansesthetic that dulls the mind so as to produce unconsciousness of the moral havoc that is being made. The unhappy being loses his power of truthfulness, and yet is hardly conscious that he is a liar. It should be remembered that absolute drunkenness is not always necessary to produce such results. The free and regular use of alcoholic beverages, though stopping short of intoxication, will assuredly produce more or less injury to the body and degradation of the mind and will, both in the drinker and in his children. Let us beware lest we even in the least degree impair these God-like qualities with which we have been endowed.

3. The last words of the text express what we are accustomed to call the drink crave. When intoxication is over, and all the misery and depression that are the after-results of excess are felt, then the unhappy victim of the drink-habit says in effect, if not in the actual words of the text, I will seek it yet again. The man who is always strictly moderate in his use of alcohol then steps in and says, But why are you so foolish as to seek it again? Has it not done you enough harm already? Why not leave it alone? But if he knew into what a state the poor drunkard had fallen--a state of both physical and mental degradation--he would not talk so glibly. First of all, the drink-crave has a physical basis. Certain of the vital organs are so affected and in such distress that the overpowering crave for drink is as natural, under the circumstances, as the craving of an excessively hungry man for food. Inebriety becomes, in fact, an actual and terrible bodily disease, not easily to be cured. Further than that, the mind of the inebriate is so obscured that he does not realise his fall as do those about him. The horror of his position does not appear to him. Strange and sad to say, this mental blindness, often extends to the near relatives.

4. Probably many moderate drinkers would agree with what has been said, and would give thanks that they are not as other men are. Yes, by all means let them give thanks for Gods protecting grace. But let them also ask themselves whether their example as moderate drinkers is helpful to their family and friends, whether the edifying spectacle of their self-restraint is likely to diminish the number of drunkards or to lessen the peril to which so many are exposed. (J. E. Crawshaw.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 23:35. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, &c. — “And to complete thy misery, shouldst thou be not only mocked and abused, but beaten also, thou thyself wilt confess afterward, that it made no impression on thee:

nay, shouldst thou be most lamentably bruised, thou wilt neither know who did it, nor at all regard it; but, as if no harm had befallen thee, no sooner wilt thou open thine eyes, but thou wilt stupidly seek an occasion to be drunk and beaten again.” — Bishop Patrick.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Though drunkenness make them more insensible than beasts, yet can they not refrain.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

awake--that is, from drunkenness (Gen 9:24). This is the language rather of acts than of the tongue.

Next: Proverbs Chapter 24

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 35. They have stricken me] Though beat and abused, full of pain, and exhibiting a frightful figure; yet so drunk was he, as to be insensible who had struck him: still, after all this abuse and disgrace, he purposes to embrace the next opportunity of repeating his excesses! SIN makes a man contemptible in life, miserable in death, and wretched to all eternity. Is it not strange, then, that men should LOVE it?

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(35) They have stricken me, and I was not sick.—The drunken man feels no blows or ill usage.

When shall I awake?—He longs to rouse himself from his slumber that he may return to his debauch.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35. sick] Rather, hurt, R.V. or pained; ἐπόνεσα, LXX.; dolui, Vulg. Both the physical and moral insensibility of the drunkard to the consequences of his vice are perhaps pointed at.

awake] i.e. shake off completely the stupor from which he is beginning to rouse himself. His first thought on regaining consciousness is to repeat his fault.

it] the wine which though it has not been mentioned since Pro_23:31, is uppermost in his thoughts. The whole description is strikingly vivid.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick,.... Or "grieved not" (x); or was not wounded or skin broken (y); see Jer 5:3. The drunken man is here represented as saying, that though his companions, with whom he quarrelled and fought in his drunken frolics, beat him very much, yet he was not sensible of the pain and smart; and it had left no sickness nor disorder upon him; he did not find himself much the worse for it;

they have beaten me; as with hammers (z); battered and bruised him terribly, laying very hard and heavy strokes upon him;

and I felt it not; or "knew it not" (a); did not perceive it, was not sensible of it, when the blows were given, or who gave them; and thus feeling no more, and coming off so well, as he thinks, he is so far from being reclaimed from this vice, that he is more strengthened in it, and desirous of it;

when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again: that is, the wine and his boon companions, though he has been so used. So the Vulgate Latin version, "when shall I awake, and again find wines?" being heavy with sleep through intemperance, and yet thirsty, is desirous of shaking off his sleep, that he may get to drinking again, and "add drunkenness to thirst", Deu 29:19; so the Septuagint version,

"when will it be morning, that going I may seek with whom I may meet?''

(x) "non dolui", Tigurine version, Michaelis. (y) Schultens Orig. Heb. l. 1. c. 9. s. 20. (z) "contuderunt me, velut malleis", Michaelis; so Grotius. (a) "non cognovi", Pagninus, Montanus; "non novi", Cocceius.

Next: Proverbs Chapter 24

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Drew. Chaldean, "plundered." Septuagint, "mocked at me." --- Again. This is the woeful effect of drunkenness, that men are not deterred from it, though they be sensible of its dreadful consequences. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They have stricken me; I cannot deny that I exposed myself by my drunkenness to manifold abuses and injuries.

I was not sick; I was not then sensible of it, neither do I now find any great hurt by it; it was but the effect of a present frolic, at which I have no cause to be much troubled.

When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again; at present I find some inconvenience, and my condition requires sleep to settle myself, and when I am composed and refreshed, I purpose to return to my former course. But that which Solomon here expresseth, seems rather to be the language of their hearts or lives than of their tongues. Compare Pro 1:11.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

35. Stricken me… beaten me — The drunkard, in his sottish stupidity, soliloquizes, apparently unconscious of any evil effects from his indulgence, and is urged by the strength of his appetite and habits to pursue his old vice. The last two clauses, perhaps, would be better read thus: “When I awake I will seek it yet again;” that is, after the effect of the debauch has been slept off. The man seems to be longing for the time when he shall be able to renew his potations.

We close with Miller’s spirited translation of this remarkable passage: —

“‘Who has woe? who has wretchedness?

Who has strife? who has complaining?

Who has fierceness of eyes?

They who are late over wine,

They who go for being curious in mixed drinks.

Look not on the wine because it is red;

Because it shows its bead in the cup;

Because it goes right well,

As its after effect, it bites like a serpent,

And stings like an adder.

Thine eyes see strange things,

And thine heart speaks subversive things.

And thou dost become like one lying in the open sea,

Or like one lying at the masthead.

They have beaten me, and I felt no pain;

They have struck me: I knew nothing;

When I awake, I will seek it yet again.’”

It is to be observed on these verses, (29-35,) how intimate is the association between licentiousness and drunkenness. They are generally found in company.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The drunkard is represented as speaking to himself. The LXX inserts, "and thou shelf say" as the Authorized Version does: They have stricken me, shall thou say, and I was not sick; or, I was not hurt. The drunken man has been beaten (perhaps there is a reference to the "contentions," ver. 29), but the blows did not pain him; his condition has rendered him insensible to pain. He has some vague idea the he has suffered certain rough treatment at the hands of his companions, but it has made no impression on him. They have beaten me, and I felt it not; did not even know it. Far from recognizing his degradation and profiting by the merzed chastisement which he has incurred, he is represented as looking forward with pleasure to a renewal of his debauch, when his drunken sleep shall be over. When shall I awake? I will seek it (wine) yet again. Some take ytm (mathai) as the relative conjunctive: "When I awake I will seek it again;" but it is always used interrogatively, and the expression thus becomes more animated, as Delitzsch observes. It is as though the drunkard has to yield to the effects of his excess and sleep off his intoxication, but he is. as it were, all the time longing to be able to rouse himself and recommence his orgies. We have had words put into the mouth of the sluggard. (Pro_6:10) The whole verse is rendered by the LXX thus: "Thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained, and they mocked me, and I knew it not. When will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may consort?" The author of the "Tractutus de Conscientia" appended to St. Bernard"s works, applies this paragraph to the cuss of an evil conscience indurated by wicked habits and insensible to correction.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sick - I was not sensible of it. Again - At present my condition requires sleep to settle myself, and when I am composed, I purpose to return to my former course.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

v. 35. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, the language of the drunken man being well imitated, and I was not sick, he did not feel the pain of it; they have beaten me, and I felt it not, he was not aware of it; when shall I awake? He is anxious to get over the effect of the present debauch. I will seek it yet again; for he who is addicted to the vice of intemperance is bound as with chains, he is a willing slave. The entire description is remarkably true to life and is intended to fill the reader with the deepest aversion and loathing for the sin of drunkenness, which changes men into brute beasts and often degrades them even below the level of animals.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“They struck me but I did not become ill, etc.” When he sobers himself up from his wine, he does not feel any of the evils that passed over him, and he drinks again.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.